I'm sure when you were getting to the point of blowing nothing was obvious but making the pain stop...I don't know about you but after the fact I always look back at those moments and think 'why didn't I just keep going' but at the time there wasn't enough oxygen on the planet to make me take one more pedal stroke.

Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Cat 4
Day 1 - 14.5 mile TT: 2nd (31:45) - What can I say? It was a TT. I suffered, I hurt, and I was the 1st loser by 13.9 seconds.

Day 2 - 48 mile RR: 2.8 laps with a short climb each time. Winds picked up throughout the day. One guy rolled off the front on the last lap, then a little later the cat 4's were neutralized to allow the 5's (!!) to go by. We were neutralized for quite a while. People who were dropped caught back on and the guy who was OTF got to keep going. I had really bad position on the final turn up the hill and had to pass a lot of people (including most of the 5's that passed us earlier...). The guy who was OTF won by about 3 minutes (he's a friend and I'm happy for him. It's part of racing). I didn't quite catch the lead group and lost a couple seconds. The guy who was just behind me in the OA took third and got a bonus time. I dropped from 2nd to 4th OA.

Day 3 - 30 minute crit - Stayed near the front for the first few laps, then got launched going around a corner by a lip in the pavement. Got hit by one guy but everyone else was able to avoid me. It was my stupidity, I should have avoided the spot. Went back and got my free lap along with a few other guys. Stayed with the pack the rest of the race and finished with the group.

Held my 4th overall for the finish, in the money. Just a little road rash and a broken spoke to show for it.

Racer EX and everyone else - wish I'd known you guys were there, I would like to have met up!